Giovanni Maria Gabrielli (January 10, 1654 – September 17, 1711) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Biography

He was born at

Città di Castello Città di Castello (); "Castle Town") is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of Umbria. It is situated on a slope of the Apennines, on the flood plain along the upper part of the river Tiber. The city is north of ...

, in the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

, to an impoverished branch of an old and influential

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

from nearby

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennines. History The city's origins are very ancient. ...

. He moved at a young age to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he entered the

Cistercian Order The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...

in the monastery of

Santa Pudenziana Santa Pudenziana is a church of Rome, a basilica built in the 4th century and dedicated to Saint Pudentiana, sister of Praxedes and daughter of Pudens (mentioned by Paul the Apostle in ''2 Timothy'', 4: 21). It is one of the national churches i ...

and became a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

. He started an academic career, and taught

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

in a number of Cistercian houses of study for twenty years, in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He was widely considered an eminent theologian and received by Pope

Innocent XI Pope Innocent XI ( la, Innocentius XI; it, Innocenzo XI; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 to his death on August 12, 1689. Poli ...

(1676–1689) several offers of promotion to the episcopate, which he all declined. He rather chose to pursue

Holy Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat Christian heresy, heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consi ...

offices and was assigned the leadership of many cases. In 1690 he was appointed

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

of the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

San Bernardo alle Terme San Bernardo alle Terme is a Baroque style, Roman Catholic abbatial church located on Via Torino 94 in the rione Castro Pretorio of Rome, Italy. History The church was built on the remains of a circular tower, which marked a corner in the sout ...

in Rome by

Alexander VIII Pope Alexander VIII ( it, Alessandro VIII; 22 April 1610 – 1 February 1691), born Pietro Vito Ottoboni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 1689 to his death in February 1691. He is to date the las ...

(1689–1691), and in 1699 Abbot general of the Cistercians by

Innocent XII Pope Innocent XII ( la, Innocentius XII; it, Innocenzo XII; 13 March 1615 – 27 September 1700), born Antonio Pignatelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 July 1691 to his death in September 1700. He ...

Career with Catholic Church

During the reign of

(1691–1700) Giovanni Maria Gabrielli's Curial career further progressed, and he served as Qualificator of the

Holy Office The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible f ...

and Prefect of Studies of the Urbanian College of

Propaganda Fide Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

in Rome. To this period dates his most famous Inquisition case, the one against

François Fénelon François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon (), more commonly known as François Fénelon (6 August 1651 – 7 January 1715), was a French Catholic archbishop, theologian, poet and writer. Today, he is remembered mostly as the author of '' Th ...

, whose work ''Explication des Maximes des Saints'' had been accused of being sympathetic to Quietism. Amidst the turmoil of what was regarded as a political intrigue rather than a theological case, cardinal Gabrielli staunchly defended Fénelon's viewpoints and established with him an epistular friendship that lasted until his death. Recalling his ancestor

Cante de' Gabrielli Cante dei Gabrielli di Gubbio (c. 1260 – c. 1335) was an Italian nobleman and condottiero. Biography Cante was born in Gubbio to a powerful Guelph feudal family. He held several high offices as Podestà in a number of cities in Tuscany and Um ...

's infamous actions, it was said of him that "''while one Gabrielli has condemned

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

and

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...

, another one has defended Fénelon''". The Pope, who also privately supported Fénelon's opinion, hold Gabrielli in great esteem and created him

cardinal priest A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

in the consistory of November 14, 1699; in a letter to the Abbé de Chanterac, Fénelon's agent in Rome, Gabrielli acknowledged that this appointment was in fact largely due to his role in the ''affaire des Maximes''. A few months later, on February 3, 1700, he received the red hat and the title of S. Pudenziana, the church annexed to the monastery where he had studied in his youth. A few months later the Pope died and the newly elected cardinal participated in the conclave which elected Pope

Clement XI Pope Clement XI ( la, Clemens XI; it, Clemente XI; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI w ...

. From 1709 to 1710 he held the largely honorific title of

Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals The Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals was the treasurer of the College of Cardinals in the Catholic Church. The title is based on an Italian word for chamberlain, a word no longer used in secular contexts. The position existed from at ...

. As Abbot general of the Cistercians, he chose the monastery of

San Sebastiano fuori le mura San Sebastiano fuori le mura (Saint Sebastian beyond the Walls), or San Sebastiano ''ad Catacumbas'' (Saint Sebastian at the Catacombs), is a Minor basilica in Rome, Central Italy. Up to the Great Jubilee of 2000, San Sebastiano was one of the Se ...

, near Rome, as his residence. He restored the complex and built there a new library. A passionate

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

-grower and breeder, he designed and laid out a celebrated formal

Italianate garden The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

of which today only fragments survive.

Death

He died on September 17, 1711, at the

Villa Farnese The Villa Farnese, also known as Villa Caprarola, is a pentagonal mansion in the town of Caprarola in the province of Viterbo, Northern Lazio, Italy, approximately north-west of Rome. This villa should not be confused with the Palazzo Farnese a ...

Caprarola Caprarola is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, in the Lazio region of central Italy. The village is situated in a range of volcanic hills known as the Cimini Mounts. The town is home to the large Renaissance mansion or villa which ...

, near

Viterbo Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history. ...

. According to his will, his corpse was buried in the church of San Bernardo alle Terme, his internal organs in that of Santa Pudenziana and his heart in the beloved basilica of San Sebastiano fuori le mura. Three tombstones were erected in each of the churches and a marble bust was placed in San Sebastiano, to whose monks he had bequeathed his estate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabrielli, Giovanni Maria 1654 births 1711 deaths People from Città di Castello 18th-century Italian cardinals